Each game has a nearly identical structure in which the player traverses a series of themed stages to face off against boss robots, gain new weapons and abilities, then defeat Dr. Wily in a final confrontation. An extra feature is the "Navi Mode" for the first six titles, which provides hints and pathways for completing each stage. In addition to these eight games, Mega Man Anniversary Collection includes two unlockable fighting games (Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters), which had a limited release outside Japan. These two titles are similar in gameplay but a bit more stream-lined. The battles cut straight to the bosses, who get progressively more difficult with each one defeated. Other unlockable elements in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection include original art and remixed music.

Contents

The "Navi Mode" present in the PlayStation (Complete Works) rereleases of the first six Mega Man games is included in the Anniversary Collection versions as well. This mode adds helpers that provide game hints if the player is in need of help, revisions the appearance of the health and weapon energy metres and revisions the weapon subscreens for the first three games. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions include some arranged music for the first six games, also originally present in the Complete Works versions. There are also differences for the extras between each version. The PlayStation 2 version features the original Ruby-SpearsMega Man cartoonpilot episode, while the GameCube version has an interview with Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. The Xbox version, which was released later, includes the same interview, the first episode of the MegaMan NT Warrior anime, the ability to change the control scheme, and the arranged music tracks from the PlayStation 2 version.

Some differences from the original games exist in a few cases. Several of the Nintendo Entertainment System games have remixed sound. In Mega Man 6, the arranged music is incorrectly mastered and suffers from extensive peaking. In Mega Man 7, an instance of the word "damn" was changed to "darn" to avoid getting a T rating. In addition, the graphics of Mega Man walking away from Wily's Castle are absent from the credits sequence, as the developers were unable to port certain Super Nintendo Entertainment System graphical effects. In the compilation's version of Mega Man 8, some of the Robot Masters' voice clips play at incorrect pitches. The PlayStation version of Mega Man 8 is used, as opposed to the Sega Saturn version which included bonus features and additional boss battles.

Mega Man Anniversary Collection shares qualities with Rockman Complete Works, a lineup of remakes of the first six games in the original Mega Man series, released for the PlayStation in Japan in late 1999.[3] The six games were released individually, each disc containing a port of the original Family Computer version as the game's "Original Mode" and several extras. A "Navi Mode" was included, featuring a hint system in which a supporting character in each title gives tips to the player via a communicator, as well an updated HUD, an arranged soundtrack, and other optional game modes.[4]

A Game Boy Advance version of Mega Man Anniversary Collection was also in development and was originally due to be released concurrently with the GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 incarnations. The game, originally announced as Mega Man Mania, was to feature the five original Game BoyMega Man games, as well as a history section and artwork gallery.[5] The game had its release date pushed back several times, with the delay rumored to be caused by Capcom lacking the games' original source code.[6] In January 2006, gamers contacting Capcom were told that the game had been placed on "indefinite hold". Capcom also began issuing refund checks to those who had ordered the game directly through their online store.[7] Around the same time, several retailers, such as GameStop, declared the game "cancelled" and issued refunds or store credits.

The collection received mostly positive reviews, with scores of eights, nines, and tens. The collection was slightly criticized for lacking somewhat in the extras department, and the GameCube version was criticized slightly more for not including the remixed audio for Mega Man 1-6. More controversial was the change in the GameCube edition's controls, which saw its fire and jumping buttons reversed from their original Nintendo Entertainment System configuration—with no option to arrange them back. This made level progression much trickier as a result. Conversely, the exclusive extra in the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions were both praised, with the GameCube version's interview being favored, and thus balancing things. The Xbox version rated slightly better than the other two versions, because of its added exclusive content as well as the exclusive bonuses from the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions. However, it was given a score of 8.0 (versus 8.5 for the other two versions) from IGN for arriving late, in addition to occasional graphical glitches depending on screen settings, which become more apparent when played on an Xbox 360.

Mega Man Anniversary Collection was a financial success. The GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions of Mega Man Anniversary Collection sold a combined total of over 500,000 copies in less than six months of release.[25] Due to the popularity of Mega Man Anniversary Collection among fans of the series, Capcom followed up with Mega Man X Collection, a similar compilation consisting of games in the Mega Man X series which was exclusively released in North America on January 10, 2006.[26] Once again, Capcom followed up with Mega Man Zero Collection, a compilation of all the games from the Mega Man Zero series that was released in 2010 for the Nintendo DS.